The UN refugee agency is working closely with DRC authorities and other agencies on actions to contain Ebola on the national and regional level. But, its main focus is to monitor possible Ebola infections among refugees fleeing across the border, mainly to Uganda.

The new outbreak is centered in a heavily populated stretch of Congo’s eastern border with Uganda — an area that is also the epicenter of decades-long clashes between dozens of militias that have forced millions into refugee camps.

Local health officials first suspected the emergence of Ebola after a 65-year-old woman with classic symptoms of the disease, died, and was buried in an unsafe manner, which led to the infection and death of seven of her relatives.